Gabriel M Padilla Answers Five Questions About What It’s Like Living with a Dog Influencer

  1. Have you gotten used to it?

Surprisingly yes, we have gotten pretty used to it at this point. When we’re out and about, people will recognize Roxy and sometimes ask to take a photo with her. It often happens that people don’t even ask, we just see people pointing their cameras at Roxy, and then later get a notification that she’s been tagged in someone’s story. We always let people say hi as long as Roxy is in the mood.

2. Do you think Roxy likes being famous?

For the most part, yes. She can often be shy around people, and she’ll pull back a bit if she doesn’t want to interact with someone, but that’s really it. She definitely loves taking photos because she always gets plenty of treats before, during, and after the photoshoots!

3. How do you get her to pose for photos?

As I mentioned before, lots of treats. We’ve taken many hours to train her, and she’s a smart dog. She knows if she stands there for a little while, maybe lifts her paw as we ask her to, then she’ll get a bunch of treats. It all just takes training.

Gabriel M Padilla with his dog, Roxy, and girlfriend,
Monica. December 2017

4. What’s your goal with Roxy’s brand?

We want and vocalize the topics that we’re passionate about in the pet-owner/animal sphere, and Roxy’s Instagram is a great platform to do that. People often DM us asking for advice with training a stubborn dog, and it’s really an amazing thing that we’re given the opportunity to inform people of the best ways of training solving any issues—rather than giving the poor thing up for adoption. I think that’s really our biggest goal, to help people understand the responsibility of dog ownership, and to minimize the amount of people giving their dogs up for adoption because they feel that training is pointless: because there’s always a way to solve any behavioral issues.

5. If you could tell one thing to aspiring dog influencer owners, what would that be?

First off, don’t get a dog with the intention to make it famous. You’ll realize that the social media side of things is nothing compared to the work required to take care of a pet. Outside of that, just make it fun for your dog. Give treats when they d things well, if they don’t feel up to photos today, don’t force them. It’s all about making them feel loved while rewarding them whenever they do good things!

Links:
https://www.instagram.com/gabrielmpadilla
https://www.instagram.com/withroxy
https://www.gabrielmpadilla.com